WHIPLASH: Ignorant India wakes up to a Nobel truth

Kailash Satyarthi has worked miracles in the lives of abused, forgotten children

How often have we seen ourselves caught off-guard when asked to identify a personality? I’m not saying it’s innate to Indians, but we have somehow been ignorant of many things happening around us, most of the time.

First things first: greetings to Mr Kailash Satyarthi for becoming the fifth ‘Indian’ (there are others who were Indian, but didn’t belong to this country by citizenship) to have brought the Nobel glory to our country.

A pioneer in ‘child labour’ crusades, Satyarthi is not known to many, but to those whose lives don’t matter to most.

With his work making a difference in over 144 countries and to over 80,000 young lives, our Nobel man began his activism from a small town in central India and today has his name making headlines the world over.

The founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a non-profit entity fighting for child rights and education, he has been a front-runner in pushing for laws against child labour and trafficking in India.

He was one of us, he is one of us – a commoner, fighting every day a battle of his own.

How many of you know that he was recognised by Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the US over the past decades for his work?

A Nobel might just be another medal for thousands of lives he’s influenced, but the fact that his own countrymen never knew about him is a huge let-down.

Every other day, when we see something wrong around us, we pledge to set things right. But the thought just stays a thought and our ever-judgmental mind influences our actions for an act otherwise.

Till Friday, this gentleman had a following in his field but none beyond. Cut to the Nobel moment and his Twitter account saw a flurry of followers and his website crashed in no time.

Why such cooked-up love and appreciation when you never bothered to look around you?

It’s alright. Satyarthi is humble enough to not get offended by these. And neither would it stop him from fighting for what he believes in.